Happy Halloween

 I absolutely love Halloween!  All those little people dressed up in costumes, running from house to house, ringing doorbells, and shouting, "Trick or Treat" just cracks me up.  From about 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. is the prime time.  Toddlers to elementary age children are the ones that traverse the streets during these hours.  They have no problem with saying please and thank you.  They smile and laugh while having the time of their lives.  Parents watch on and marvel at how their normally shy child will step on to the porch of a stranger in search of a treat and a little fresh air.  

Halloween is not without its downside.  I often wonder where those polite little people go after about 7:00.  My guess is that they go home to bed and all those middle school and high school kids that have pillowcases in hand appear on our porches with a kind of "give me" attitude.  I actually had a kiddo reach into the bowl tonight and literally snatch a handful of candy.  She turned and knocked my flower pot over and never  stopped to right it.  These older kids with their pillowcases that just scream, "Filler up!" make me crazy.  I have to wonder to myself where did they lose the innocent years of just having fun?  What caused this pressing greed that now engulfs them?

There is a solution.  When kids enter middle school, Trick or Treating should change to parties chaperoned by those parents who once stood in the driveway protecting their little ones.  They should drink tons of soda, play their music loud, and consume copious numbers of cupcakes.  Being a middle school teacher, I know that they will come to school in a sugar coma the next day and be so tired that they will literally slurp from class to class.  They will yawn and gaze off into space and not get a thing out of the day, but little people and flower pots will be safe.  There comes that time in a kids life where they should be with their own, and Halloween of their middle school years should mark the beginning of that era.

As for me, well, I am honored to be at that stage in my life where the grandchildren show up on my doorstep shouting their "Trick or Treats." My own little princess and farm animal(cow) showing up for that special little treat is awesome.  Watching them skip off with their parents in tow, among the throngs of other little people makes me happy.  I love Halloween!

Lora